When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he targeted his appeal to where Jesus was, at that time, most vulnerable. Jesus had fasted for forty days and would have been very weak and hungry so Satan tempted him to turn stones into bread—a seemingly harmless thing for Jesus to do.

However, Jesus was aware of what Satan was up to so he rebuffed him by quoting God’s Word, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”²

Satan also tempts us in seemingly harmless ways—especially where we are vulnerable. But once we take the bait, he will lead us deeper down sin’s path.

Because Satan will often tempt us at a point of legitimate need, we need to make certain we get this need met in healthy ways so we won’t be susceptible to his tempting us to get them met in sinful, self-destructive ways!

When Satan does tempt us, an important way to rebuff him is to know God’s Word, memorize and meditate on it as David did, and quote it to him as Jesus did.

Dwight L. Moody, the renowned evangelist, knew the power of God’s Word too. He had written in the fly leaf of his Bible, “This book will keep me from sin or sin will keep me from this book.”

It pays to know God’s Word and hide it in our heart.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a greater love for Your Word with the desire to hide it (memorize) it in my heart—and be quick to quote it when I am tempted. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Psalm 119:11 (NIV).
2. Matthew 4:4 (NIV).

Sometimes it can be very difficult trying to understand the spirit of our age that has been described by some as a day of postmodernism. But what is postmodernism?

The following insights by Kenneth D. Boa and Robert M. Bowman Jr., in their book, 20 Compelling Evidences That God Exists, help me to understand a little of what is happening in today’s secular world. And to help understand post modernism Boa and Bowman summarize the major characteristics by using the acrostic P-O-S-T.

P-Power Controls Knowledge: “According to postmodernists, all knowledge is political. That is, what people believe is shaped largely by their relationship to the political powers that govern the institutions (such as schools and churches) through which knowledge is transmitted.”²

O-Objectivity Is Dead: “Different cultures, different religions, and other types of communities have different perspectives that give them their identity. Postmodernists contend that these different perspectives should be celebrated and preserved, not challenged or critiqued.”³

S-Science Constructs Models; It Does Not Describe Reality: In contrast to science being an understanding of the world as it really is “Thomas Kuhn’s 1962 landmark book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions itself led a revolution in science…. Kuhn has convinced a generation that science cannot and need not seek truth; its goal is rather an understanding of nature that meets the needs of the scientific community and of the larger society. Such a view of science, of course, implies that scientific theories are now to be assessed partly in terms of how well they support the values of those who pursue science.”⁴

T-Tolerance, Not Truth, Is Absolute: “The postmodernist understands tolerance to mean accepting people’s different beliefs and therefore refraining from criticizing or even disagreeing with those beliefs. Postmodernists are especially bothered by claims that a particular religious or ethical belief is the truth that all people ought to accept. Rather than examining such claims to see whether they hold up in light of the facts, postmodernists dismiss such claims as arrogant, narrow-minded, and intolerant.”⁵

Tragically, if we don’t correct course, postmodern political correctness will ultimately destroy us. Without access to the truth there is no reality, no freedom, no sense of direction, and no hope of salvation for mankind. No wonder so much of today’s world is floating in a sea of mass confusion. While we don’t agree with postmodernism, we do need to understand its basic tenets so we don’t get sucked into its empty, meaningless void.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me discern the difference between what is truth and what is meaningless rationalization used to justify what postmodernists want me to believe. Help me always to base my beliefs on principles that are found in, and/or in harmony with, Your eternal Word, the Bible. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Jesus, in John 8:32 (NIV).

2. Kenneth D. Boa and Robert M. Bowman Jr., in their book, 20 Compelling Evidences That God Exists, Victor, Cook Communications Ministries, Colorado Springs, Colorado. p. 18.
3. Ibid, p. 19.
4. Ibid, p. 19.
5. Ibid, p. 19.

How can we be sure when and if God is speaking to us?

When I was a young Christian I wanted to serve God and sometimes felt his Spirit was telling me to do something. However, this “still small voice” within sometimes had me in bondage. In time I came to see that this “voice” was not from God at all because “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom [liberty]“² and I had anything but freedom.

One’s inner “voice” can come from God, from our self, or from the tempter. If the tempter knows he can’t pull us down into acting out in sinful behaviors, he may try to “push us over the top” where we become (as the old saying goes) “so heavenly minded we are of little or no earthly use.”

So how can we know where the inner voice is coming from? Is it a conviction from God’s Spirit? Could it be a neurotic compulsion from within my self? Or is it from the tempter? With a conviction from God I always have the freedom to say no because “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”2 With a compulsion I am driven and feel that I “have to” do what the “inner voice” is saying no matter what. If from the tempter, it is also more a compulsion.

Keep in mind that God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible, and never contrary to it. He also speaks or leads through various circumstances, as well as through inner convictions. If it is from God, it will always be in harmony with His Word and there will be a sense of freedom. If it is contrary to God’s Word or any type of compulsion, we can know it isn’t God speaking to us and we need to reject it.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the wisdom to know when You are ‘speaking’ to or leading me, and when the ‘voice’ I hear is from myself or the tempter. Teach me to not only know Your voice but always to obey it. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 John 4:1 (NIV).

2. 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV).

One writer pointed out that there is a scene in “Winnie the Pooh” that goes something like the following:

Pooh: “Did you fall into the river, Eeyore?”

Eeyore: “Silly of me, wasn’t it?”

Pooh: “Is the river uncomfortable this morning?”

Eeyore: “Well, yes, the dampness you know.”

Pooh: “You really ought to be more careful!”

Eeyore: “Thanks for the advice.”

Pooh: “I think you’re sinking.”Eeyore: “Pooh, if it’s not too much trouble, would you mind rescuing me?”

How sad when people all around us are lost without Christ and we discuss outreach, form outreach committees, conduct seminars on outreach, read books about outreach, and do everything in the church except outreach.

As somebody else said, “If you see a dangerous, poisonous snake, just kill it. Don’t appoint a committee on snakes! Just do it!”

Good advice for many areas of life—including reaching the lost with the saving gospel of the Jesus Christ as He so commissioned us to do! For a very simple and attractive way to help do this please see https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power_invite.php.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be a doer of Your Word and not just a hearer or a talker. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Jesus, in Mark 16:15 (TLB).

On a recent Saturday night Joy and I were relaxing at home listening to gospel music and heard the Oakridge Boys singing; “Did I Make a Difference?” The words were very inspiring and challenging. Following are some of the lyrics:

“I’m caught up in the push and shove,

The daily grind, burning time, spinning wheels,

I wonder what I’m doing here,

Day to day, year to year, standing still.

Somewhere there’s a teacher with a heart that never
quits,

Staying after school to help some inner city kids,
A mother who’s a volunteer, a soldier in the fight,

I can’t help but ask myself when I lay down at
night.

“Did I make a difference in somebody’s life?

What hurts did I heal? What wrongs did I right?

Did I raise my voice in defense of the truth?

Did I lend my hand to the destitute?

When my race is run, when my song is sung,

Will I have to wonder, did I make a difference?

Did I make a difference?”²

Dear reader, when your race of life is run and you come to the end of life’s journey and look back on your life, will you be able to say that you have made a difference in somebody’s life, and in the world in which you lived? Or when you stand before the Master, Jesus, to give an account of your life,* will you be able to say with confidence that you made a difference with your life? And will I? Let’s make absolutely certain that you and I will truly be able to say, “Yes, by the grace of God, we did make a difference.”

The good news is that if you want to make a difference, you can. Just make yourself available to God every day to use you as He pleases!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, again today I surrender my heart and life to You. Please help me to so live today and every day in such a way—to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch—so that my life will make a difference in somebody’s life, and also in the world in which I live. And please grant that by Your grace when I stand before Your judgment seat to give an account of my life, I will not be empty handed, but will hear Youe welcoming words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, your life made a difference in many people’s lives, enter into the joy of your Lord.’ Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

*“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”³

1. Isaiah 1:16-17 (NLT).

2. http://tinyurl.com/kxac9je

3. 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV).

“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow—perhaps it all will.”¹

And as Jesus said to His followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy [God's] Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”²

Recently in a Sunday morning worship service our church congregation was singing with great enthusiasm the old hymn: “Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born,” while the reality is that far too many of us don’t even “go tell it” across the street. We have excellent community services, but we mostly don’t even make any helpful gospel literature available.

The sad reality is that, according to the highly respected Barna Research Group, the church in the U.S.A. today is in decline. Furthermore, according to an adjunct professor from Fuller Seminary, “The fastest growing church in America today is the church of none.” That is, more and more people are dropping out of the organized church.

Jesus commissioned His followers saying that they were to “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone,”³ and again, Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”⁴ Thus, if we are not actively involved in fishing for lost souls, are we truly following Jesus?

Some years ago I prayed and in my prayer I said to God, “I hate witnessing and I’m quitting because I am too scared. However, God, if you want to use me, I’m available, but You’ll have to do it through me because I’m too afraid.”

A few hours after that, I was traveling on an airplane, sitting alone reading Hal Lindsay’s book, ‘The Late Great Planet Earth.’ At one point a fellow passenger got out of his seat, sat down in the empty seat beside me and, after introducing himself, asked me about the book I was reading.

I told him it was a book about the return of Christ to earth coming for all His true followers. He asked, “Do you believe that Christ will return to earth?”

When I told him I did, he said, “Will you please tell me all about it?”

Now I love to witness like that and it all happened because I admitted to God that I was afraid to witness, but that I was available for God to use me to share the gospel message with others—and I’ve been sharing the gospel with mega thousands of people ever since, primarily through the printed page, e-Mail and the Internet.

After all these many years I still pray the following prayer every morning and plan to keep doing so for the rest of my life. I encourage you to do the same:

“Dear God I am available again today. Please make me usable and use me to be an effective witness for Jesus today, and please help me to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

NOTE: for practical tips, helps and tools to easily keep on sowing the seed of the gospel and be an effective witness for Jesus go to: https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power02.php

1. Ecclesiastes 12: 4, 6 (TLB).

2. Acts 1:8 (NIV).

3. Mark 16:15 (NLT).

4. Matthew 4:19 (NKJV).

A Daily Encounter subscriber writes: “Devotions like this instill hope that God is, yet being the doubting Thomas that I am, I struggle with doubts. I see many things going wrong in my life but my prayers never seem to be answered. I feel that they fall on deaf ears, and I have come to the conclusion that if the power of prayer was effective today, there would be less death, sickness and turmoil. I struggle with it all.”

Dear James, thank you for sharing your struggles regarding prayer. I agree with you in that sometimes it can be difficult to understand why prayers for some people get answered, while for others they never seem to be answered.

The fact is that sometimes God answers, “Yes” to our requests. Sometimes he answers, “No,” and sometimes it’s, “Wait a while.” Other times our prayers don’t get answered because we are praying the wrong prayer. As today’s Scripture reminds us, sometimes we pray with the wrong motives.

Furthermore, some prayers don’t get answered because we may be focusing on the symptoms of our problems, rather than facing and dealing with the deeper cause or causes. For instance, there’s no point in praying for healing from ulcers if they are caused by an overload of stress caused by unresolved personal problems. Also, no point in praying for deliverance from alcoholism unless we face and deal with the deeper cause or causes. In most of these cases the ulcers and the alcoholism are symptoms of deeper problems—often in the subconscious mind.

When praying about any problem or situation, to ensure that our prayers will be heard and answered by God, we need, first of all, to pray in Jesus’ name, as it is only through him that we can come to God. Jesus Said, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”³

Second, we also need to pray “in truth.” God’s Word says that “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”² That is, we need to be ruthlessly honest, first with ourselves, and then with God asking him to confront us with the truth of what we may be contributing to the symptoms we are struggling with; to give us the courage to face and deal with any deeper cause/s; and to lead us to find the help we need to resolve the cause/s.

Third, we need to pray believing. Faith, too, is essential for effective prayer. As Jesus said, “All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive,”⁴ and “according to your faith will it be done to you.”⁵

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You for the wonderful privilege You have given to all mankind in that we can always come to You in prayer through Jesus Christ Your Son and our Lord. Please help me to always pray ‘in truth’ and always be honest with myself and with You, pray with pure motives, and always pray in harmony with Your Word and Your will, so that I will be sure that You will hear and answer my prayers. Thank You for hearing and answering this prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

NOTE: For further help see the article, “How to Get Prayer Answered.” It’s at: http://tinyurl.com/positive-praying. please take time to read it. I trust it will be of help.

1. James 4:3 (NKJV)

2. Psalm 145:18 (NIV).

3. John 14:13-15 (NIV).

4. Matthew 21:22 (NIV).

5. Matthew 9:29 (NIV).

“We’re all self-made,” said one self-made philosopher, “but only the rich will admit it.”

The fact is life is a series of choices. I am where and who I am today and doing what I want to do because of choices I made many years ago. Furthermore, who I am and what I do tomorrow will be largely affected by choices I make today. To do nothing is also a choice even if it is made unconsciously.

As Brian Tracy puts it, “It’s choice, not chance, that determines our destiny.”

For example, I may have been victimized in the past but if I remain a victim that is my choice and in so doing I become a willing volunteer. No matter what my background was or what happened to me in the past, I am now fully responsible for what I do about it and for what I become.

With God’s help and the support of loving friends and, if needed, the help of a well-trained counselor, I can become the person God wants me to be and fulfill the purpose he has for my life. It’s up to me, however, to find out what that purpose is and do my part in fulfilling it.

It boils down to choice. As Joshua said to the ancient Israelites, “Choose you this day whom you will serve … As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And he did for the rest of his life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to discover Your purpose for my life and accept full responsibility for becoming the person You want me to be and for doing what You have planned for me to do. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Joshua 24:15.

One of my favorite quotes happens to be from a Buddhist monk who said, “To know and not to do is not yet to know.” To translate this into our Christian terminology it could be, “To believe and not to act is not yet to believe because I only truly believe that which motivates me to action.”

It has also been pointed out that we don’t always act consistently with what we profess but we always act consistently with what we believe. In other words, I may profess to be a Christian but if I don’t act like one, chances are I may not be one.

Furthermore, if I say I believe that Jesus Christ is coming again and unless people receive him as their Savior, they will be lost forever—but don’t do anything to share the gospel—chances are I don’t really believe that people are lost and that Christ is coming back again. I only profess it.

As James put it, “What’s the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians if you aren’t proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone? It isn’t enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good works is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.”² And as James also said, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”³

Good works don’t save us. They just confirm what we are and what we believe. Jesus said the same thing. “By their fruits you will know them,” he declared.⁴ In other words, to know and not to do is not yet to know—or to believe and not to act is not yet to believe.

Have you had a reality check lately to see what you really do believe? You measure it by your actions and the way you live.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be a doer of Your Word and not just a hearer and grant that my belief in You will be for real—and be evident in what I do and in the way I live. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. James 2:20.

2. James 2:14, 17 (TLB).

3. James 4:17 (NIV).

4. Matthew 7:20.

Medical science, numerous self-help and recovery programs, and personal experience indicate that emotional, as well as spiritual growth is an essential and often lacking ingredient of physical health, inner peace, and meaningful relationships.

Jesus said, “Do you want to be made well/whole?”² His purpose was not only to save us from our sins and give us the gift of eternal life, but also to bring us healing and wholeness—not only spiritually, but also physically, emotionally and relationally.

Sadly, many of us, even those of us who are committed to the Christian faith, still have some physical ills that could be healed. Many carry around unresolved feelings of anxiety, fear, anger, depression, guilt and shame. Some struggle with addictions, and many have never found the loving relationships the human heart craves. These are the issues/stresses that either cause or greatly aggravate many of our physical ills and relational conflicts.

As God’s Word points out, in order to be healed of some, if not many, diseases we need to confess our sins—this includes our sins of the spirit such as unresolved anger, resentment, grudges, unforgiveness, bitterness, grief, guilt, fears, lack of trust in God and so on.

Speaking personally, when I resolved a lot of buried grief by getting in touch with it and sobbing it out, I was healed of hay-fever that plagued me for years. And when I got in touch with a lot of buried anger from childhood days and expressed it creatively and got it off my chest, I was healed of painful bursitis in both of my shoulders. When we bury our emotions, where do they go? We never bury them dead but very much alive and, what we fail to talk or weep out creatively, we will inevitably act out in one way or another destructively.

I’m not implying that if we confess all our sins that we will be cured of all ills such as being bitten by a malaria mosquito, eating bad food, or of problems that come from aging. However, if we put into practice and live by the principles found in God’s Word, many of us would be a whole lot healthier, happier and more fulfilled than we presently are.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You for the guidelines that are found in your Word that, if adhered to diligently, will greatly improve my physical, mental and emotional health and lead to a more fulfilled life and loving relationships. Please help me to so live. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. James 5:16 (NIV).

2. John 5:6 (NKJV).